Many people don’t realize just how important fitness is to their life. Fitness is more than just losing weight; it’s committing to being the healthiest and happiest you that you can be. Here are some great ways to get fit and to propel you toward optimum levels of personal fitness.

It can always be difficult to find time for exercise. If you have problems finding the time (or energy) to put in an hour a day in at the gym, try breaking it up into ten minute incraments. Even three ten-minute stints of activity a day, can boost your heart rate throughout the day. Many people also find that by adding ten-minute bursts of activity into their schedule, they have more stamina and are able to increase the amount of energy they put into each activity.

If you’re lucky enough to live near your local grocery store, an easy way to get a workout is to walk to the store on your day off instead of taking your car. Grab a basket once you’re inside– getting a cart will make it easy to choose more items than you can easily carry. You can always make multiple trips, or bring the family so everyone can grab a few bags.

Do not weight train two days in a row. When exercising your muscles, be careful about working particular muscle groups too often and too much. After weight training, allow your muscles at least 48 hours to recover. Anything more does more harm than good. You won’t see any favorable results.

A great fitness tip for runners who experience sore calves would be to sleep on your belly and let your feet dangle off the bed. Over the course of the night, your calves will stretch out just from being in this position. Of course, stretching, warming up and cooling down are also going to assist you with this.

A great way to get fit is to pick up a few workout DVDs and pop them into your DVD player. The great thing about these is that you can go at your own pace. You can pause the DVD if you’re feeling tired, unlike in a class setting.

Try to devise a healthy eating plan and diet for yourself in addition to your workout regime. The healthier you eat the easier it is to get into shape. You should also notice that you have more energy when you workout when you eat healthier as well. Remember you are what you eat and your body reacts to what you put into it.

Make sure you’re not over doing your workouts. The best kind of workouts are those that push your body to its limit, but be careful not to go past your limit. You don’t want to risk injuring yourself. Instead, start small and work your way up. A runner doesn’t just jump into a 5k after not running for years, so you shouldn’t either.

It can be tough to stay motivated when dieting. It’s important to see progress to keep yourself going. Instead of weighing yourself, keep tight clothes on hand. Try these clothes on every week, and you will literally feel how much your life is changing.

Your body is not the only thing that should be trained during your workouts, you need to train your brain as well. After all, it is in charge of your central nervous system which is in charge of telling muscles when to contract. To do this, try standing on one leg, squatting down and touching the floor with your other hand. Do about 2 sets of 10-12 repetitions for each leg.

When stretching, you should spend twice as much time on stretching tight muscles as you would for flexible muscles. Focus your stretching on muscles that are tight, not so much on the ones that are flexible. Men typically have a few problem areas, such as lower back, hamstrings, and shoulders.

Doing sit ups or crunches can be a good way to develop ones abdominal fitness. Sit ups can be done with out any special equipment just a soft spot to exercise on. Also there are different kinds of sit ups one can do to work different parts of their core. Sit ups can boost ones fitness.

You don’t need to feel guilty while watching tv, you can still exercise while you watch your favorite shows. If you exercise during every commercial, you can watch TV and get a great workout, too!

To avoid straining your neck when you are doing crunches or other abdominal exercises, try putting your tongue against the roof of your mouth. This will help you keep your head properly aligned while you exercise, which will reduce the strain on your neck. If your neck starts to hurt, stop right away.

To have great looking abdominal muscles, you may think you need to work them every single day. But you shouldn’t. Your abdominal muscles are similar to other muscle groups. They need time to rest and regroup between sessions. Like other muscle groups, target your abdominal muscles between two to three days each week.

Getting fit takes some time; it doesn’t happen overnight. But working out a fitness routine and committing to your own success can help. Use these tips to help you do that and decide to work on your fitness no matter what. Be healthy by being fit and be happier as well.